The Four Spheres of the Earth

The area near the surface of the earth can be divided up into four inter-connected "geo-spheres:"
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Scientists can classify life and material
on or near the surface of the earth to be in any of these four spheres.
The names of the four spheres are derived from the Greek words for stone (litho), air (atmo),
water (hydro), and life (bio).////////

Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. This crust is inorganic and is
composed of minerals. It covers the entire surface of the earth from the top of Mount Everest to
the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. This includes the oceans,
rivers, lakes, and even the moisture in the air. Ninety-seven percent of the earth's water is in the
oceans. The remaining three percent is fresh water; three-quarters of the fresh water is solid and
exists in ice sheets

Biosphere
The biosphere is composed of all living organisms. Plants, animals, and one-celled organisms are
all part of the biosphere. Most of the planet's life is found from three meters below the ground to
thirty meters above it and in the top 200 meters of the oceans and seas.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our planet. Most of our atmosphere is located
close to the earth's surface where it is most dense. The air of our planet is 79% nitrogen and just
under 21% oxygen; the small amount remaining is composed of carbon dioxide and other gasses.
All four spheres can be and often are present in a single location. For example, a piece of soil
will of course have mineral material from the lithosphere. Additionally, there will be elements of
the hydrosphere present as moisture within the soil, the biosphere as insects and plants, and even
the atmosphere as pockets of air between soil pieces.////////

Importance of Lithosphere
1. The lithosphere provides the solid surface necessary for terrestrial organisms to
survive.
2. The lithosphere is very important because it is a large reservoir of resources,
which are so useful to man. The majority of the material objects which man requires are
supplied by lithosphere. The lithosphere serves as a source of minerals. The minerals
supply the basic materials required for making a variety of commodities, which
man uses daily.
3. The lithosphere is also the major source of fuels such as coal, petroleum and a
natural gas. Without these fuels human life, as we know it today, would have been
impossible.
4. The lithosphere in combination with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere plays a
vital role in the growth of plants and animals. It provides nutrients to the plants.
The plants are the source of food for man and all other animals.
5. The lithosphere is important to humans, as it sheilds us, and all other organisms
on Earth, from the immense heat of the Earth's inner core. The consequence of its
formation is that water can exist in its liquid form, allowing for the carbon-based
life forms that exist today.
However, the lisophere is also important for the stability of the Earth. The inner layers of the
Earth are subjected to pressure by the lisophere as it is affected by gravity, forcing the innermost
elements into the Earth's radioactive core, continuing the nuclear fusion that maintains the
planet's constant state of balance.
Finally, due to the Earth's formation by the congregation of elements from a long-passed
supernova explosion, a number of essential heavy elements, such as carbon, iron, etc. had
become trapped in the lithosphere as they settled in the Earth's upper layers as it cooled. It is
these elements that allow and comprise much of what exists on the surface today.

Importance of the Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere occupies 71% of the earths surface. It contains water chiefly in its liquid form, and
also in solid form(i.e. floating ice-bergs), which is a source of fresh water on earth. Water is
chiefly confined in ponds, lakes, rivers, seas n oceans.

The importance of water can be summed up as follows:

1.All living things need water to survive.
2. It provides water for drinking.
3. Water is also required for irrigation in rainfall deficit areas.
4. Hydrosphere plays an important role in maintaining the global water cycle and
bringing precipitation through the process of water cycle.
5. Aquatic bodies plays a great role in our ecosystem by supporting several aquatic
floral and faunal life.
6. It acts as a global pollution sink, and dissolves several pollutants which are
present in the atmosphere.
7. Fish, seaweed and aquatic plants and animals can be used for food.

Importance of the Biosphere

The biosphere contains all the systems (air, water, heat, land) that support life on earth.
1.Man is a biological organism (as are women as well) and as such, needs to eat, to breathe, and
to have a place to live; these things are made possible by the biosphere. If we compare the Earth
to, for example, the Moon, which has no biosphere, we see that it would be much harder to live
there. We would have to create our own artificial biosphere or habitat, in order to live on the
Moon.

1. The biosphere is important because it represents all life on our planet.

Without the biosphere, the Earth would be a lifeless planet such as Mars or Venus
2. The biosphere sustains us, both in the food that we eat, and in the air that we
breathe. Whether we are vegetarians or meat-eaters, the energy we need and the
protein we need to build our bodies comes from things in the biosphere.

3.We also need oxygen to breathe, and the organisms on the sea and on the earth
use our waste carbon dioxide, creating the oxygen we need to breathe.
All the living organisms including humans are linked to each other and to the
biosphere for survi
Importance of the Atmosphere
The atmosphere that surrounds our planet Earth contains the right proportions of gases that are
absolutely essential for life, one of those gases is oxygen, making up 21 percent of the air we
breathe, without it humans and animals die within minutes. But too some of those gases, by
themselves are deadly but because air contains safe proportions of these gases, we can breathe
them without harm.
Without the atmosphere, we would not exist. The atmosphere protects the Earth from harmful
Ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun. The atmosphere is also believed to be a defense against
meteorites, making it hard for large ones to enter through the Earth's atmosphere. The
atmosphere is like a source of life as well, "sheltering" the Oxygen and other necsisary elements
of life.

1. It prevents the Earth from freezing at night by not letting the heat of the sun
to escape.
2. It has various gases which are essential for our survival. It is only because of
atmosphere that life is possible.
3. It is because of atmosphere that the colour of the sky is sky blue.
4. Ozone present in the upper layer of atmosphere protects from the ultraviolet
rays of the sun.
5. If there would have been no atmosphere the meteors would not be burnt and
would have caused a lot of destruction on earth.
Two ways the atmosphere is important to the earth is that it provides us with breathable air and it
protects us from dangerous UV rays from the sun. If carbon dioxide levels increased in our
atmosphere, like it is now, it would lead to global warmning. More infared rays would be trapped
under the atmosphere, causing our climates to have extremes.
Earthquake
Lithosphere: Shaking, ground rupture, landslides, avalanches, fires, forests destroyed, severe
building damage.
Hydrosphere: Tsunamis.

Atmosphere: Gas emissions from ground release toxic gases that are released into the
atmosphere.
Biosphere: Kills people, animals, disrupts ecosystem, destroys plantlife and crops.

How can the atmosphere be harmful?

Disturbances in the atmosphere can cause severe weather conditions:
(i)

Cyclones

Cyclone is air moving in a spiral around a low-pressure area.

The most obvious cyclone danger is strong winds. These most often cause trees to
fall, crashing through buildings, but they can also destabilise structures such as
houses. The strong winds send flying debris, which can be particularly dangerous.
Fallen trees can also bring down powerlines as they fall, and these present the
danger of electrocution.
Some cyclones bring flooding rains. Floods themselves are an obvious danger, but
so is the possibility of mudslides or landslides in the waterlogged soil.
(ii) Thunderstorms
Thunderstorms result from the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air.
Thunderstorms are responsible for the development and formation of many severe
weather phenomena. Thunderstorms, and the phenomena that occur along with
them, pose great hazards to populations and landscapes. Damage that results from
thunderstorms is mainly inflicted by downburst winds, large hailstones, and flash
flooding caused by heavy precipitation. Stronger thunderstorm cells are capable of
producing tornadoes

(iii)

Global warming

Global warming occurs when the earth heats up (the average global temperature rises). It
happens when greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap heat and light from
the sun in the earths atmosphere, which increases the temperature. This hurts many
people, animals, and plants.
Global warming is mainly caused by human activities. Fossil fuels like coal, gas and
petrol are burned to produce electricity.

Global warming is affecting many parts of the world. Global warming makes the sea
rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. It may also cause
floods in some areas while other regions may suffer from severe drought.